Senate censures aged care minister Richard Colbeck and security firms involved in guarding Melbourne quarantine hotels continue giving evidence at the state’s inquiry. Follow live news and updates today
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In other news:
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has welcomed an interim parliamentary committee report that recommends that Medicare-subsidised telehealth be made permanent.
We are pleased that the interim report of the select committee on financial technology and regulatory technology has backed the RACGP’s calls for telehealth to be made permanent in its recommendations.
With the September deadline looming, patients and GPs urgently need clarity on the future of telehealth and e-prescribing services. Patients with long-term conditions are already being booked in for appointments after 30 September, and general practices need to know whether telehealth is an option.
The last thing we need is a lack of clarity or significant disruption for patients and GPs across the country. Telehealth must be extended while we work on a suitable long-term solution.
The House is about to adjourn, but Labor has moved a motion to try and get the sitting to continue (which will fail).
And oh God, I have just been told we might end up sitting for four weeks straight after budget, because the quarantine for the MPs is a little too difficult to wrangle.
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RNC live: Trump to speak at every night of convention alongside family members and supporters
- President will appear tonight with six former hostages
While CNN and ABC have been streaming the RNC largely uninterrupted, Fox News is not. And it’s miffed some prominent Republicans. Sean Hannity, on Fox, provided his own commentary on the convention and interviewed Carl Rove about how the RNC has compared to the DNC so far. With a mind-boggling lack of self-awareness, Hannity accused that other media, “won’t be showing large parts of the convention.”
Can’t believe I have to watch the convention on @CNN. Unbelievable. @FoxNews
The Republican convention played a video claiming Trump has kept “every single” promise he had made since becoming president.
As CNN’s chief fact-checker Daniel Dale noted, that is not even close to being true. According to Politifact, Trump has broken about half of the promises he had made to the American people.
This video has Trump saying "I have kept every single" promise. Not even close to true. Mexico hasn't paid for the wall, Obamacare hasn't been repealed, and on and on. PolitiFact's 100-promise tracker says 49% have been broken. https://t.co/U4XZnHARUg
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Obama expected to denounce Trump’s ‘cynical moves’ on mail-in voting – US politics live
- Obama expected to make case ‘democracy itself is on the line’
- Democrats formally nominate Biden for president
- Ocasio-Cortez accuses NBC of spreading misinformation after speech
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During a gaggle with reporters White House counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway said she didn’t know about Trump’s call to boycott Goodyear. But she did say that Trump would hold a briefing at 5 p.m. ET today.
According to a White House pool report the exchange with reporters and Conway went like this:
Why is the president calling for a boycott of Goodyear? It’s an Ohio company, in a battleground state?. Seems like a particularly bad idea for him?
I don’t know what you’re talking about. You can ask about the president at 5 o’clock, he’ll be briefing. I think he’s done plenty for companies in Ohio and elsewhere, far more than Joe Bidne ever did, creating a job.
The Supreme Court has set a date for when it will hear oral arguments in an Obamacare repeal case. It will be the morning after the November elections, adding to what was already slated to be a chaotic week in the United States.
Supreme Court's election season oral arguments include big LGBT rights/religion case the day after the election and Obamacare the following week. Whether or not the election will be decided by then remains to be seen pic.twitter.com/6tn5EBn4El
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Democratic convention live: second night begins with Jill Biden to speak
- Ocasio-Cortez praises Sanders’ campaign in nominating speech
- Colin Powell to endorse former vice-president
- Cindy McCain to detail husband’s ‘unlikely friendship’ with Biden
- Biden to be formally nominated on convention’s second night
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Ocasio-Cortez, like so many progressives, traces her political awakening to Sanders 2016 presidential campaign, where she worked as an organizer. A self-described democratic socialist, Ocasio-Cortez was elected to Congress in 2018, unseating the fourth-ranking House Democrat.
Since her shocking victory, she has helped organize and raise money for progressive challengers around the country, including Jamaal Bowman who won the Democratic primary this year, knocking off a 16-term incumbent in a deep-blue New York district.
Many progressives were furious that Ocasio-Cortez, widely viewed as the leader of a next generation of Democrats, was only allotted one minute to speak, while ample time was devoted on Monday night to Republican defectors, including former Ohio John Kasich, a staunch opponent of abortion.
Yet her invitation was a testament to influence within the party, rare for a first-term member of Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed Sanders in the primary, giving his campaign a much needed jolt in the uncertain days after the senator’s heart attack, has been critical of Biden’s establishment-minded approach to governing. In an interview last year, she mused that in another country, they would not belong to the same party.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s nominating speech for Bernie Sanders was a virtual passing of the torch. Sanders briefly led the primary contest earlier this year before falling impossibly behind Biden as fear of the coronavirus began to spread across the US.
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Sanders, who nearly eked out a victory in the Iowa caucuses, and then went on to win primary contests in New Hampshire, and Nevada before sweeping California on Super Tuesday, is expected to receive around 1,000 delegates.
In the same way Sanders popularized Medicare for all, she has championed the Green New Deal – both turning the issue into a rallying cry for young Democrats and an easy line of attack for Republicans. Climate is one of the key areas in which Biden has moved left, and she was included in the Biden-Sanders unity taskforces, created to forge a policy consensus between the often-warning progressive and moderate wings of the Democrtic party.
Addressing his supporters on Monday, Sanders said their movement had “moved this country in a bold new direction” but he was unequivocal in his endorsement of Biden, warning that the stakes were too high to stay home.
“The future of our democracy is at stake,” he said.
Cardi B interviews Joe Biden and tells him ‘Trump out’ is election priority
- Rapper and Biden talk politics in wide-ranging Elle interview
- Democratic nominee fails to respond to Medicare for All query
In a wide-ranging interview released on Monday, Cardi B told Joe Biden her priority for the election in November is to get “Trump out”.
Related: Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's WAP should be celebrated, not scolded | Dream McClinton
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Coronavirus Australia live update: anxiety grows over NSW mystery cases as curve begins to flatten in Victoria – latest news
NSW authorities are concerned about a number of Covid-19 cases in the past six weeks where the source was unknown. Follow live
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It was rolled out really quickly - but it’s been a massive help for a lot of people. Now the AMA wants Medicare subsidised tele-health sessions to continue. As AAP reports:
Australia’s peak medical group has urged the federal government to extend Medicare-subsidised telehealth services until March as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
Behind each of those daily death reports, is a whole life.
They are reported as "three men in their 80s" or "two women in their 90s" - this series looks at the lives behind the numbers - From tragedy in the Philippines to Melbourne matriarch: family lose beloved 'Nanay' to Covid-19 https://t.co/JYC1K11hVA
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Trump signs executive order to exclude undocumented people from census – live
- Order could cause certain areas to lose funding and representation
- Biden says Trump has ‘quit on this country’
- McConnell outlines Republican coronavirus relief bill
- US failure to report vital coronavirus data is hobbling response
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Donald Trump “cannot imprison Michael Cohen for writing a book”, the American Civil Liberties Union said, as the organization filed suit against the federal government.
Related: ACLU says Trump sent Michael Cohen back to prison 'for writing a book'
Joe Biden promised to give a raise to childcare workers, who he said are “too often underpaid, unseen, and undervalued.”
The Democratic candidate noted 40% of childcare workers are still on SNAP or Medicaid, calling that figure “unacceptable.”
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Coronavirus Australia live update: national cabinet to discuss hotel quarantine and Victoria lockdown
State and territory leaders to consider cap on international arrivals as Melbourne infections grow. Follow live news and updates
- Eight Melbourne public housing towers released to stage three restrictions
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Reproductive health provider Marie Stopes Australia says it is concerned that telehealth services introduced as part of the coronavirus support package in April could be rolled back in September, increasing the cost to people accessing termination services.
A study published in BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health journal, on patient experiences of accessing medical abortion services at Marie Stopes using a telehealth in 2017, was released on Friday.
Marie Stopes Australia says women could face higher out-of-pocket costs when they try to access discreet medical terminations if the measures are done away with.
Before the pandemic, people were only allowed to bill Medicare for telehealth when it was their regular GP or one they had seen in the past six months.
A-League boss Greg O’Rourke was just on Radio National, and told host Hamish McDonald he was “pretty relieved” that three Melbourne-based clubs have obtained permission to enter NSW.
About 120 players and staff from Melbourne City, Melbourne Victory and Western United will fly up via charter flight today, then spend 14 days in quarantine, being shuttled from the hotel to a quarantined training ground.
Yeah absolutely, absolutely, as the head of the league it is my responsibility and I take full accountability for it.
No departure plans have been announced, with head of leagues Greg O’Rourke announcing on Thursday each traveller will need to have tested negative to Covid-19 before making the trip.
Regular testing has been ongoing at all A-League clubs and O’Rourke said when Western United’s most recent swabs had been cleared, the teams will be free to travel.
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California rolls back reopening plans as coronavirus cases climb – live
- Governor warns of ‘disturbing trend lines’ in hospitalizations
- Supreme court court strikes down restrictive Louisiana abortion law
- Republicans told to wear masks in House or be barred from speaking
- Fauci doubts effectiveness of vaccine due to anti-vaxxers
- Florida scientist says state asked her to change data
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Jerome Powell, the new chair of the Federal Reserve, is slated to tell Congress tomorrow that the battle with Covid-19 and its economic fallout will be long and hard-fought.
“The path forward for the economy is extraordinarily uncertain and will depend in large part on our success in containing the virus.” He adds: It’s “hard to capture in words” the lives upended.
On Monday the House passed in a vote of 234-179 the most significant expansion of the Affordable Care Act since its inception in 2010.
The vote for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act was largely symbolic as it is unlikely to pass in the Senate. Even if it did, Donald Trump would immediately veto it, the White House said on Monday.
The hours of debate before the vote allowed Democrats to point out, again and again, that the Trump administration is seeking to invalidate the ACA in a lawsuit before the Supreme Court that was initiated by a group of Republican attorneys general who contend the entire law is unconstitutional.
“As lives are shattered by the coronavirus, the protections of the Affordable Care Act are more important now, more than ever,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Noting that both Trump and congressional Republicans promise to preserve the law’s protections for people with preexisting medical conditions, she said: “Oh really? Then why are you in the United States Supreme Court to overturn them?”
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How to handle your private health insurance – in one afternoon a year
If you turned 31 this year, you have until 1 July to avoid a fee loading on private health cover, but experts say there’s no need to panic-buy
Private health insurance in Australia is kind of an oxymoron. “Every Australian already has health insurance: Medicare,” says Uta Mihm of consumer advocacy group Choice.
So why does it exist here at all? Well, that’s the million dollar question. Firstly, it’s important to note that “health insurance” in Australia actually refers to two different types of cover: private hospital cover and extras cover. The former will pay for you to receive treatment in private hospitals, where you’ll stay in comfortable rooms and get shorter wait times for elective surgery. Extras cover is meant to reduce the cost of things like dental, optical and massage.
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